The BCCI and the Indian selectors have backed Indian youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi for the four-day red-ball game in the intra-CoE tournament, which will feature 64 junior cricketers who have not previously performed for India.
India’s struggles in Test cricket have been evident. India may have won the T20 World Cup, but their struggle in Test cricket is well known and cannot be denied. India’s white-ball future is looking better; Its red ball future is very uncertain.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who has performed brilliantly for the Indian youth team, has continued his peak form for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. 15-year-old batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi, though adept at flexing his muscles, is not known for his dependability in the longest format of the game.
India’s slow progress in test cricket under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir
India have struggled to perform in Test cricket in recent times. Ever since Gautam Gambhir took charge of the Indian team, India has lost its unbeaten form in red ball cricket. Reaching the World Test Championship final from here will be a difficult task.
India lost two home series in red-ball cricket, one against New Zealand in 2024 and then against South Africa in 2025. They also suffered a humiliating defeat against Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
However, finally, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has taken notice of the situation, and is finally going to start down the path of improving its squad to make the Indian team a formidable force in red-ball cricket.
Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi will play in the four-day intra CoE tournament
According to the latest PTI report, the BCCI CoE under the guidance of chief VVS Laxman has made a comprehensive plan for young cricketers like Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi. They will play four-day red ball games in the intra-COE tournament in June and July.
The main objective is to build a supply chain to ensure India’s red-ball talent for the next decade. A total of 64 cricketers will be involved, all in the under 25 age group. The same PTI report said that all coaches and national selectors have been asked to concentrate most of the high-performance camps in Bengaluru.
“The India Emerging team will consist of only Under-25 players and will also form India A teams for shadow tours. The roadmap will be made keeping in mind senior selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir,” a BCCI source told PTI.
“After the IPL ends, both India Under-19 and Emerging (Under-25) will tour Sri Lanka for four-day games. The team will be selected on the basis of performance in the intra-CoE tournament,” the source said.
BCCI’s plan to improve India’s Test future
Although India did well under Gautam Gambhir in England, a major reason for the failure in home conditions is their poor ability to deal with spin. Keeping those conflicts in mind, it has been planned to select 64 players and divide them internally into 4 teams of 16 players each.
Out of these 64 players, there will be 50 players who have not played in IPL. The 25 cricketers (U23) will be selected by the junior selection committee and will be headed by S Sharath. Apart from these, another 25 cricketers will be selected by the Senior Selection Committee, which will include players who have performed exceptionally well. Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
The remaining 14 players include cricketers who have played in the IPL before, including Ayush Mhatre, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and youngster Sameer Rizvi.
“The idea is to select 25 players after the Intra-CoE tournament and this core group of cricketers will represent both Emerging and India A in the shadow tours. BCCI officials and the Team India management have been quite clear – even for the Under-19s, the focus next year should be on the red ball,” the source said.
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